50 Colorful Photos From The Pushkar Camel Fair

Colors. Camels. Gypsies. Performers. Amusement rides. This is the modern Pushkar Camel Fair, an annual tradition that dates back over 800 years. Camel herders from all over Rajasthan flock to Pushkar to show off and sell their flock.

But it isn’t just camels. There are also various sports and competitions, including the mustache competition and football (soccer) match between foreigners and locals. I spent two weeks there enjoying the festivities from beginning to end and captured some amazing photos. Choosing only 50 was hard — plus I still have over a thousand I haven’t even had time to look at yet! 😵 And just wait until you see the videos! Join me on YouTube!

Other kids laughed at this adorable little girl after showing the group this photo and she never smiled again in any of my subsequent photos

Aerial view of camel herd headed to town

After sneaking atop a water tower for photos I ran into this guy who was painting the tower (before the Pushkar Camel Fair started)

Dancing schoolgirls from Rajasthan performed at the opening ceremony of the Ashok Tak, camel decoration winner and promotor of cultural heritage at the Pushkar Camel Fair

Ashok Tak and his camel Raja have won many camel decoration contests over the years. However this time they were only here to raise awareness, not to compete.Camels graze at one of the very few green spots around PushkarWhat are you looking at?Weathered lines were etched in the faces of every camel herderI interviewed a few camel herders to learn more about their way of lifeThis little kid was riding that camel like a professionalCamel herders from Jaisalmer about to begin the long walk back homeCamels, camels everywhere!Camel taxi rides were popular with both foreigners and IndiansOpening ceremony of the Pushkar Camel Fair 2015

Pushkar Camel Fair

Competitions And Contests

This is horse dancing at 1/4000th of a second — you’ve got to see the video to believe how fast they move their hooves! (Coming soon — join me on YouTube now for global mischief)This is camel dancing, much more controversial than horse dancing, primarily because camels were not designed to stand on two legs. Reports of broken legs exist. However it is worth noting that of the tens of thousands of camels in Pushkar for the fair, only 12 competed in the dance contest.There were lots of interesting ‘staches competing in the mustache competition, including the man with the longest mustache in India (not pictured — his mustache stretched 15-20 metres each direction and was impossible to fit in the frame)

Vendors Were Selling Everything

Which color sir?

Chai anyone?

Hand-punching the holes

Haggling

Peanut vendor

Nearly got trampled getting this shot 😉Most herders sold their camels prior to the start of the fair and left before the end of it. Here the guy on the right is trying to low-ball these herders and get a camel for dirt cheap (because he knows they don’t want to return home with it)Various spices and herbs that are used as camel medicinesSchoolgirls from all around Rajasthan came together and performed several amazing dances

There Were Even Musical Performances

To which I had a VIP front row pass too 😉

The Jaisalmer Boys, aged 7 to 15Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (amazing musician) playing an instrument he inventedOne was from France, the other China, and their music is indescribable…you’ve got to see the video! (Coming soon — join me on YouTube now for more global mischief)Kailash Kher is a Bollywood singer and the highlight of the music performancesThe sun has gone down and the Ferris wheels are going up

All in all I have 3,096 photos and nearly 17 hours of HD video. Most of it I haven’t even sorted yet, so stay tuned for more 😉

About Derek Freal

"Some people eat, others try therapy. I travel." Cultural enthusiast. Adrenaline junkie. Eater of strange foods. Chasing unique and offbeat adventures around the world since 2008. Derek loves going to new destinations where he does not speak a word of the local language and must communicate with hand gestures, or places where he is forced to squat awkwardly to poo -- supposedly its healthier and more efficient. For more information (about Derek, not squat pooing) including popular posts and videos, check out his bio.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Honestly brother, I almost didn’t want to publish this. I started the raft before the fair began and had the photos almost ready to go by the second day, but got so busy shooting video I never had time to publish it.

Now that it’s over, I found the time and added in a couple photos from the end to complete the set. However I still have much that hasn’t even been looked at. :/

Thanks for the encouragement though. Been slacking on my photos recently as I focus more on video but it was nice to get back to it. Of course my best photos are nowhere near as jaw-dropping as yours, but maybe one day 😉

In that case, I’ll look forward to the video as well! That – shooting and editing video – is like some dark magic as far as I’m concerned. I have neither the eye for shooting nor the patience for editing, so when I see some of the stuff you and others put out I’m always astounded by it.

Yeah the sad thing about doing videos is that 90% of the ones I do are for clients, meaning no one who reads this blog ever sees them — or if they happen to stumble across it, do not realize that I did it. And these are all my most professional, stylish videos. But given that I spent two weeks in Pushkar covering this event from every angle, interviewing people, attending damn near every event…well I can not only do the videos this client wants but also will have enough leftover footage to do a cool one of my own.

Why not give them a plug on social media, at least, to let your fans give ’em a look and book the visitor numbers for the clients that ordered them? I, for one, would be very interested to see more and I imagine other of your readers would be as well?

Yeah, I probably should….but here’s the other sad truth: I never even bother to check to see where and when (or even if) they publish them…often times I hear numbers from the SM teams, or other various forms of feedback. But I never track anything myself. It’s always just on to the next thing. Plus I’ve been wanting to improve the aesthetics, navigation and load time of both my blog and the other half of The HoliDaze for over a year now — so any free laptop time since leaving Nepal not spent working for someone is being spent working for myself. I feel kind of guilty slacking on reading other blogs, and on writing for mine. And you are correct. This is something I should do, if fact need to do. Of course I cannot handle another video client until this project is done at the start of March. So it will probably be closer to then that I begin to compile links and numbers for everything, add some extra weight to the ol’ portfolio 😉 Thanks for the remember and kick in the ass, have added this to my to-do list.

Dude, this festival looks pretty fascinating. That guy’s mustache is epic stuff! Still interested in finding out if that rumor about the camels fate afterward was true, but either way this is a pretty cool cultural experience I think. I feel like being there amongst all of it happening might be a little overwhelming though, looks packed, but then again everything in India is haha.

Like all massive events where money is involved, that aspect we spoke of exists but in much much much smaller numbers than what the conservationist was trying to say. Ended up putting together a pretty cool video for Zostel but haven’t 100% finalized mine yet b/c just too damn busy here in India.

Interestingly enough, the camel events (racing, dancing, decoration, etc) all happen as the fair is busy assembling, or in the first couple days. The remaining few days it just a normal fair, but surprisingly that is when it gets most packed. Turns out Indians don’t travel to the Camel Fair. For them its not interesting. But for foreigners….

I recognize like half of your photos! Feel like we were literally walking around right past each other without realizing hahaha. Although I was shooting video more than photos, still did get some okay shots. And already made one camel fair video for my client in India but haven’t finished the second one (for myself) yet…